Aphid
Introduction The Aphid is a close-range (up to 350 meters) light homing missile weapon. Strategy This missile launcher is a versatile close-range weapon. Like the Spiral, the Aphid requires time to lock onto its target. However, once fired, the missiles will automatically home in on their targets, generally guaranteeing a hit. Because the missiles are fired into a ring following an arcing trajectory, they are able to hit a target that is hiding behind cover. On average, about 4-5 of the 8 missiles fired will hit the target. This weapon is the light version of the Vortex and the Thermite, as they share the same range, reload time, and the missiles fire at the same trajectory. The difference being, the Vortex doing more damage, and the Thermite doing even more damage. The Aphid begins to lock on opponents at 600 meters, although it can only be fired from 350 meters. This is most likely because the Spiral, Hydra, Zeus, and Scourge, also lock on at 600 meters. When locked onto an opponent, one can aim between the 2 green brackets that appear to the left and right to curve the missiles in the aimed direction. However, the missiles do not curve as much as the ones on the Spiral. Once fired, Aphid missiles follow a predictable trajectory, being slow to turn. This means fast, agile robots, jumping, dashing robots in particular, can time their movement or jumps to minimize or entirely evade the damage done by an Aphid salvo. It should be noted that the Aphids (as well as the Hydra and the Spiral) do not have the splash damage effect, thus physical shields can block some if not all this weapon's missiles. Aphids are some of the deadliest close-range knife fighting weapons due to their ability to clear cover. In addition, with a relatively fast reload time of 10 seconds, a robot can fire salvos over and over again, gradually weakening the target. When an opponent has a built-in or mounted Ancile shield, one should fire their Aphids individually, as to deplete the Ancile before the other missiles hit. This is because if all missiles hit at the same time, the shield will be fully depleted but will have absorbed the extra damage due to the timing. Due to the low-flying trajectory of the Aphid missiles, it should generally be used in open ground, where the enemy cannot hide. The missiles fired by the Aphids, unlike those of the Spiral, are not guaranteed hits. Often some of the missiles will hit the ground next to the robot if it is moving. Jumping and dashing robots can easily negate large amounts of damage, and sometimes they can even dodge an entire salvo. Also, fast-moving robot, like the Gareth, the Stalker, or the Jesse have good chances to dodge an entire salvo, by outrunning it or just changing directions. However, all Aphid missiles will hit a stationary target with no shield out in the open. The Aphids do well in groups, as 3 or even 4, or when used with the Vortex and Thermite weapons, as they can inflict heavy damage to enemy robots. The Patton or Jesse in the lower leagues are common robots to see Aphids on, the latter of which can quickly get in and out of cover to fire the missiles while taking as little damage as possible, and while the former is slower, the damage it can deliver is immense. A single salvo is sometimes enough to temporarily disable a Carnage's Ancile shield. It has also been seen on the Griffin with Tarans, Orkans, or Vortexes, and due to the location of the light hardpoints it is sometimes called a "Stuka" Griffin. Base Stats *This table shows the damage for each individual missile. *This table shows the damage for each individual missile. Mark II *This table shows the damage for each individual missile. *This table shows the damage for each individual missile. Update History Trivia * There is a Russian short-range lightweight infrared homing air-to-air missile weapon with the same name, the AA-8 'Aphid'; however it is not certain that these weapons are related. * Aphid is related to Spiral, both being light hardpoint weapons with the similar mechanics (like Pin is related to Pinata, or Molot to Punisher). * Aphids are a species of insect which feed parasitically on plants, often in groups. * This weapon's namesake may be due to the fact that the arrangement of the missiles on the launcher resembles a group of aphids congregated on a plant stem. * There is an ongoing 'bug' where aphid missiles (Also goes for its counterparts) where the visual of the missiles 'bug'. Its where when the visuals, for example, hit an object, but the actual missiles go over it. And hit its target.